Lebanese and Western sources reveal that the two missiles fired Sunday, Jan. 18, by Israeli helicopters at an armed military convoy on the Syrian side of the Golan struck a group of Iranian and Hizballah officers near Quneitra. Five Hizballah officers were killed, including Jihad Mughniyeh son of the Shiite terrorist movement’s military chief, whom Israel killed in 2008, and an Iranian commander. debkafile: The group was inspecting a site for deploying a Hizballah force integrated in Syria’s surface missile deployment opposite Israel’s Golan lines.

Two high-ranking US officials, National Security Adviser Susan Rice and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, were challenged by Israeli leaders over the Obama administration’s omission of the Shahab-3 ballistic missile from its demand to restrict ICBMs that can reach Europe and the US in Iran’s arsenal. The Shahab-3’s range of 2,100km covers all of the Middle East, including Israel. Yet it was left out, although it carries warheads weighing 760 kg, to 1.1 tons, which may also be nuclear. Hagel faced the same challenge from Saudi Arabia and the GCC.

Iran’s leaders celebrated the 35th anniversary of their Islamic revolution Tuesday, Feb.11, with a torrent of hate rhetoric and threats surpassing even the crudely belligerent language used by former President Ahamedinejad. As his audience burned US and Israeli flags and stamped on placards depicting Obama, President Hassan Rouhani echoed the IRGC leaders in mocking America’s military option, while Khamenei called for Israel’s extermination as a “cancerous growth.” Yet Barack Obama opted not to react and demanded that Prime Minister Netanyahu follow suit.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards chief Maj. Gen, Mohammad Ali Jafari revealed in a lecture to students in Tehran that under the Geneva interim accord negotiated last month, Iran had agreed to apply a six-month nuclear freeze additionally to halting the extension of its nuclear-capable ballistic missiles to ranges of 3,000-5,000 km, able reach the US and Europe. US and UK negotiators agreed Tehran could keep the missiles with ranges of 1,500-2,000 km capable of reaching Israel, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Iran will parade its ballistic rocket achievements by sending monkeys into space next month. This was announced by Hamid Fazeli, head of the country’s space agency, Tuesday, Jan. 15. debkafile: Since firing the first Iranian-made satellite, the 27-kilogram Omid, in February 2009, Tehran has developed a rocket with a payload capacity of 330 kilograms, capable of placing nuclear warheads anywhere on the face of the earth. The Iranians habitually mask advances in their nuclear and missile programs as pure scientific research.

“Israel will do all it can to prevent Iran from re-arming Hamas after its losses in our Gaza operation,” said Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz Sunday, Nov. 25.
But debkafile intelligence sources learn that Saturday, Nov. 24, just three days after the Gaza ceasefire, three Iranian missile engineers managed to steal into the Gaza Strip. They reached Gaza from their Lebanese base on false passports through Sinai and one of the smuggling tunnels blasted in the Israeli operation and repaired by Hamas.

An authoritative US military source told debkafile Sunday, Aug. 5 that US armed forces stand ready for war with Iran. Without going into who would lead the operation to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program, the US or Israel, the US Air Force will undertake to destroy Iran’s Shehab-3 ballistic missile batteries aimed at Israel and Saudi Arabia. The Israeli Air Force would then be left free to tackle the huge rocket arsenals of Syria, the Lebanese Hizballah and the Palestinian Hamas and Jihad Islami.

The US is piling up military strength in the Persian Gulf against potential Iranian attempts to block the Gulf of Hormuz, or otherwise retaliate for the European oil embargo in force since July 1. As the Revolutionary Guards staged a missile exercise against “enemy air bases,” more than 40,000 US troops were massed on two strategic islands facing Iran. The drums of war came with curtains on nuclear diplomacy. Iran and six world powers met for the last time in Istanbul Tuesday. Oil topped $100 for the first time in three weeks.

Top Iranian and Hizballah missile experts posted in Gaza at Hamas and Jihad Islami HQ went to work Sunday, March 11, to puzzle out counter-measures for disarming the Iron Dome. For the Palestinian Jihad’s operation to be counted a success, its mobile multiple Grad launchers must bring devastation and multiple fatalities to an important Israeli town. This goal has eluded the Palestinian extremists after 160 rockets in three days - thanks to the Iron Dome interceptor posted in three key cities.

By a media trick, Tehran proved its claim that closing the Strait of Hormuz is as "easy as drinking water," debkafile reports. First thing Saturday morning, Saturday, Dec. 31, Iran's state agencies "reported" long-range and other missiles had been test-fired as part of its ongoing naval drill around the Strait of Hormuz. At 0900, Tehran announced the test was delayed. But meanwhile, for five hours Saturday, not a single warship, merchant vessel or oil tanker ventured into the strategic strait, although not a shot was fired.

Iran is secretly moving some of its most sensitive nuclear research facilities and materials from Tehran and the Arak heavy water plant to huge storage areas around the new nuclear reactor at Bushehr, along with advanced missiles from the southern province of Khuzestan, debkafile discloses.

The fueling of the reactor since inaugurated Aug. 21 makes the location safe from air or missile attack for fear of environmental radiation. Tehran is exploiting this advantage.

US defense secretary Robert Gates reported Thursday, June 17 that the US had overhauled its missile defense plans following intelligence that Iran could fire "scores or hundreds" of short- and medium-range missiles against Europe -in salvoes rather than one or two at a time. The new US program, designed to protect NATO allies, uses sea and land-based interceptors. He did not mention Israel, but these figures mean it has fallen back sharply in the regional balance of strength, even before adding on the thousands of Hizballah rockets.

Iran's claim that its new air defense system "Mesbah-1" can counter cruise missiles and other low-flying vehicles would, if confirmed, represent its answer to US or Israeli cruise missile attacks in a potential military strike. The Iranian Air Force has taken delivery of 10 new Cobra-type helicopter "Toofah" which Iran's arms industry claims that compared with the original Toofah has been heavily upgraded, improved and rearmed.

Ahmadinejad presented a space-cum-missile extravaganza and faked a measure of diplomatic flexibility to obscure the dark days the Tehran regimes faces on the eve of the 31st anniversary of its revolution. China is increasingly helpful to Iran's efforts to beat US restrictions.

US president Barack Obama's tough talk of sanctions has melted into soft soap for luring Iran into further dialogue. Adopting the reverse tactic, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sounds almost reasonable for a change, even as Tehran pushes its revolutionary goals as pugnaciously as ever.
Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu gave the US president another six months for diplomacy up to mid-2010 without the threat of military action when they met at the White House November 9.